Ivan Markovic (*1989, Serbia / Germany)

Centar is a experimental documentary about the physical and social space, and the ways that they merge through architecture and human work. The film portrays Sava Centar, a nearly abandoned socialist congress space in Belgrade: it visually analyses the relation between the monumental forms of the building and the surfaces which show traces of age and weather. The maintenance workers carry on meticulous daily routines of cleaning and fixing; their effort seems futile compared with the enormous leaking building. Nonetheless, their work keeps this building, an almost forgotten vision of the future, alive. Centar is portrayed only in the interior, creating a sense of realm isolated from time and space, to which the outside world is a threat.

Ivan Marković is a filmmaker born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. For his photography and video work, won “Erste Foundation” award for best visual artist in 2014. Shot several feature films shown in Locarno, Rotterdam and Venice film festivals. White Bird, which he shot and co-directed with Linfeng Wu, had it’s premiere on Berlinale Shorts 2016.